A team of clergy, lay leaders, and community members have recently organized to learn more about why so many in Caswell are still without broadband internet access despite a flurry of activity last year that sought to expand access in Caswell. That group is now calling on residents of Caswell County to take action THIS WEEK.
They have learned, and are sharing with others, the following key points:
- In 2019, Open Broadband, a private internet company, received a $1.5 million matching grant from the state of North Carolina Department of Information Technology’s Broadband Infrastructure Office to provide broadband access to Caswell County residents.
- The company had pledged to start connecting customers by January 2020. However, not a single resident has been connected. In fact – almost no progress appears to have been made!
- Other internet companies, such as RiverStreet Networks, are in a position to provide broadband to the county, but only if the state Broadband Infrastructure Office tells Open Broadband to step out of the way and reassigns the grant $ to a company that can get the job done.
They are asking others in our congregations, health centers, communities, and businesses to join them in contacting the Director of the Broadband Infrastructure Office by FRIDAY, July 24th to urge that office to take action. They have provided the contact information as part of this SAMPLE EMAIL that will help you voice how urgent the need for broadband is here in Caswell County.
23 Comments
Name *tracy Stanley
There is no dependable internet here. We have crappy satellite internet that is expensive & unreliable & very limited to the amount of gbs.
Name *chris rice
Need an alternative to expensive cable internet
Name *Kathy Spivey
In most of Caswell only satellite internet is available. It is expensive and limited data. Bad weather, rain , storms, snow the internet stops completely. At full capacity it is very slow. Streaming videos, movies is not an option without continuous buffering then eventually stops. If a student spends the amount of time needed to do school work they will be out of data very quickly and there is no option to get more GB with HughesNet. HughesNet needs to offer unlimited data if this is the only internet this county can get. Satellite internet is not good and more importantly not a good option for home schooling.
Daniel Sloan
We need something that brings us into this Century please…
Name *Kimberly Scott
Moved here in 2012 while attending college online, had no option but to put furthering my education on the back burner due to sluggish Satellite internet through Dish Network. Now they dont even offer it in my area of Caswell. 3 students in my home can’t even use the hotspot given by the schools during Covid. Hughes net is outrageous and not worth a Damn for my children to interact with their teachers. We need broadband. They gave us the grant and if the company can’t do it then find another one that will. Now someone needs to get the job done. I’m so sick of calling providers and hearing we dont service your area, there are not enough people requesting it to service your area. I live at 150 end of Ashland Rd.
Heaven Wyatt
We need a good option for good internet. Expensive and unreliable satelite internet is horrible for home schooling.
Name Bill Bush
I pay for 1MB DSL what would buy highspeed broadband if I lived in town!! I have stuttering video on YouTube videos, for Pete’s sake! We are being left further and further behind. Why does the state and federal government persist in counting us as having broadband when only the town of Yanceyville and Milton have it? A few of us are left with DSL if we are LUCKY! The rest have nothing! This is hurtful in so many ways. Now, with Covid-19, students cannto do schoolwork in remote learning situations. Unconscionable!
Name *Gail Williams
Please help those of us in Caswell County to have the chance to be offered decent internet service . I live 1/2 mile from the Century Link cut off line and we are in the AT&T district that offers us Nothing in our area ! Those of us that want a little internet service have to rely on expensive companies as HughesNet to receive unreliable service .. With the pandemic crisis – as a retired schoolteacher- I can only imagine the frustration our county students , parents and teachers are experiencing.. Please help our County to catch up to provide quality internet service for All areas of our County ..
Christa Badstein
Hughes Net Satellite is our only option. (We have no cell phone reception either. So not possible to a hot spot.)
With multiple adults working from home. With 3 children needing to perform school work. There is NO workable solution. Only 1-2 devices can be connected at a time. Download and upload speeds are too slow. Maximum data plans which gets consumed before the day is over. No ability to video conference due to buffering and lost connections. Forget about these other people trying to stream Netflix or whatever they do with their privileged lives. We can’t compete on the most basic of tasks.
I led a global team for an international technology company and I can’t see what others are screensharing in meetings and I can’t share from my screen (it’s minutes delayed/lagged response) and emails with file attachments could be delayed in upload or outgoing mail for double digit minutes. Because of this my ability to perform and be effective is near non existent. The frustration of all parties is high. The stress of having to be at home is already high. And hitting your data limit is the straw that breaks the camels back.
Randy Dowdy
Century link is better than nothing. But not much better. It is not the employees fault though. The repairmen bust their butts to keep it patched up.
Danielle Sutton
Mobile Hotspots are not the answer for Caswell county. The county needs reliable internet. The hotspots we currently use are spotty at times and sometimes don’t allow for any connection. We don’t have any other options out here.
There needs to be a better internet that allows for folks to work from home and for our children to work remotely during the pandemic.
Tonya Pennix
We are on Hwy 119 South between Hightowers and Baynes, and Corbett Ridge, approximately 5 miles from Hwy 86. Connection stopped coming from 86 2 miles before our community and picked back up 2 miles outside of our community heading towards Baynes. It also stops coming thru what is now Gunn Poole Rd. We were told that it was not cost effective to run it through the community. There are 2 churches, daycare, several people that can and now do work from home and own their own businesses. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to conduct business, have meetings,
download files or do a point of sale transactions with a subpar connection from a mifi; or paying an arm and a leg for satellite internet with overages. It is 2020 and since moving back in 2010 we still have not found good service. In order for the county to grow and people to be competitive, internet is crucial; it’s just like needing electricity.
Name *pamela taylor
We need a better internet period Centrylink sucks it’s hard to work with our children with school work an internet service !!!!
Name *Natasha Stewart
31 kyle mack way rd Ruffin nc at the Christmas lights /cross Rds
Natasha Stewart
31 kyle mack way rd Ruffin NC at Christmas lights Rd /cross road we. Do not have any Internet services in our area we need so our children can do they work at home I have to go to Reidsville to the coffee shop or a local restaurant so my children can do work one of my children is a special needs child some time he doesn’t want to go it makes hard on me if your company is not planning to anything we going else where to find help sincerely Natasha Robinson Stewart. Geneva M Stewart Larry T Stewart. Larry K.stewart Woodrow Robinson Sophia Robinson. Kebin L. Robinson Dorothy Graves. Casmeshe Spencer. Annie Mallory Veronica Coltrane. Tonya Farrish. .
Kristina Sullivan
High speed broadband internet is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity. Having satellite internet as the only option available in 2020 is a shame. Depending on what part of Caswell you’re located during bad storms you loose cell and internet connection. Now with covid it’s made it nearly impossible to try and work from home. Satellite internet is over priced, extremely slow, and doesn’t work unless you have a clear sky. Caswell county has so much to offer, but being behind the times brings down property values and discourages businesses from wanting to take root here. Having access to broadband internet will positively impact the citizens of this county and provide them with more job opportunities, learning capabilities, and reduce absurdly high satellite internet fees.
Name* Jim Martin
I live on Wagonwheel Rd. I have lived there since 2014. My parents lived there, starting in 2008, before me and my son. In this entire 12 year time span, we haven’t been able to get high speed internet access, unless we paid for the very expensive, unreliable, slow and data capped Hughes Net satellite service. We had ATT DSL service at one time. What a joke that was. That was antiquated technology. Why hasn’t Caswell County been able to keep up with the rest of the world in being concerned with the needs of its residents and providing them with communication technology that is essential for meeting our needs? We not only need high speed internet but we also need Cable TV and better, more reliable cell phone service. I just recently lost cell phone service at my house when the new tower was activated on Stoney Creek School Rd. Our County is about 30 years behind in Technology. Isn’t it time that we get caught up. Our children need the same resources that other counties provide to their residents. Please help us with this matter 🙏🙏🙏🙏. Our children are counting on it. Why does the state of NC allow technology providers to have areas of prioritization that does not allow for competition? For example, on Wagonwheel Rd. the only wired provider is ATT. I can’t get CenturyLink, Verizon, Comcast or any other providers. So the people on Wagonwheel Rd. cannot get decent service because ATT refuses to upgrade it’s infrastructure on our road. It’s just not cost effective for them to do so. We need to have choices!
Name *Tameka King-Barnes
There is spectrum service not even 2 minutes up the road but they won’t extend the line up the road. They told us we could pay for them to add it but at this time they don’t come that far up. Also, CenturyLink is slow. I have 3mbps and 3 teenagers going to school virtually. This does not work well in our household.
Susanne
Our small businesses need reliable internet in order to do business. I have been unable to take credit cards at the Farmers market due to no internet connection. Also, with remote learning this fall, our students must have reliable internet to do their school work.
Name *justin
I use to be alright with centurylink. Could get dual bonded dsl up to 15. Eventually they moved us down back to 10 and it’s always inconsistent. Well with it being in 2020 and many areas are able to get a gig down while some people can still barely get 1Mbps, it needs to change. Especially during these times when many people are left at home having to work, but are unable to, due to slow internet. Many people can lose their jobs and homes all because the other providers didn’t want to use the grant to increase/replace their customers lines. Since if a home could get 10/1 it was good enough. That isn’t the case anymore but they still kept to that and if a new provider can come along. I’ll gladly change
Name *Skip Pageau
We need Broadband now, for educational purposes. Get it done.
Name *Pam Rogers
During this pandemic, it is more important than ever to have reliable internet service. It is imperative to bring broadband to students who need it with remote learning taking place this fall. Also, as TeleHealth is more widely available it will allow others easy access to healthcare or the behavioral health services they may need. Add new provider options for broadband now.
Randy Dowdy
The internet we have is through CenturyLink and is very slow. We need better quality and more reliable internet. The price is too high and the reliability is too low
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